Gateway National Golf Links

This is a premier golf course with 5 sets of tees. 5187 – 7092 yards will challenge anyone who accepts the challenge. And Bent grass! The course is laid out nicely and made for players who have a wide array of shots. Trouble? As wide as it is, you’ll manage to find plenty of trouble. Ohh and bring plenty of balls because there’s plenty of massive tall grassy areas where you’ll lose your ball. Ready or not… here I come! It was so fun to play here today. Cloudy and cool but what a wonderful time I had.

I played Gateway National for the first time this morning, having gotten a pretty decent rate through their website (better than what was being offered on Golf Now). The course itself is phenomenal. As stated by many others, the fairways are worth the trip alone — they’re perfectly manicured and smooth as can be. The holes are challenging without being overly difficult, and if you can manage to keep it in the fairways (which are pretty wide, for the most part, you should be able to score well.
All in all, I love the course, but the only thing preventing a five-​star rating from me is the «operational» side of things. I started out with my cart all but dying on my way up the first hole, and although I was able to easily drive it back and swap it out for a new one, it was a minor inconvenience I’d rather not have dealt with. I was also disappointed to not see a snack/​beverage cart making the rounds. I believe they do have one, but I never saw it, even though my round lasted through mid-​afternoon. The course doesn’t swing back by the clubhouse at the turn, as most courses do, which is fine, but I’d think this would be even more reason to ensure the snack/​beverage cart is deployed. I’d definitely like to go back and will be happy to bump this up to a five-​star rating if these issues aren’t present in my next round.

This was my first time playing a course on the Ill side of the river, and was very impressed with this one! I love the bent grass fairways. They were very easy/​soft to hit off of and offered good bounce control so you didn’t hit the fairway just to go rolling off of it. The cart girl was very nice and made her rounds often. This is much appreciated since this is not a turning 9’s course. They do have a small hut at the turn where you can grab a quick snack/​beer. This course is very long, especially if you play anywhere close to the tips. We played on the back, which is essentially the back of the middle, and it played long. I loved the sound of the roaring V8’s over at Gateway also during our round. It really added to the experience. My only complaint is their carts. My first one was pretty much dead after the first hole. I had to limp it back to swap it out for another one. Then I get the new cart out only to find that the steering is bent, and it was an absolute bear to steer the rest of the round. I blame that for my game going to hell after about hole 14. I joked that I was tired from wrestling my cart all day.

Great layout and plays long on a lot of the holes but fair on the greens. Par 5 are tough to score…545yd to 655yd so you better be PGA long to get there in 2. I average 280+ yd off the tee and getting on 2 was almost impossible under slight wind conditions. Also this is considered link style but I would call it a hybrid… fairway and green are too soft vs traditional links and trees are present on most of the course which provide wind cover and hold moisture on the fairways. Now why the 3 stars? The condition were very poor… fairways were torn up, green are beat up and bunkers… or toxic mud holes. The Walters Mgmt need to step it up here as it has massive potential. One suggestion is promote proper golf etiquette to fix divots and repair/​re-​seed fairways as groups ahead of us (3 group) didn’t seem care of the course… The Staff was great… look forward to coming back seeing some changes soon.

Layout: Gateway National bills itself as a links course, but it really is more links-​style, and not even really that. Although Gateway has its share of tall grass and does not use large trees as obstacles, it is pure target golf and not links-​style. Links courses are designed to play hard and fast, and with a very soft bentgrass playing surface, Gateway plays anything but hard and fast. So, like most American attempts at links golf, Gateway is target golf that sort of looks like links golf. Regardless, I have come to enjoy the layout at Gateway. It’s long and very difficult, but has a nice variety of holes. In my opinion, the best holes are #7 (long par 3 over large hazard that runs along train tracks), #10 (great risk reward par 4 that is driveable but risky), and #18 (reachable par 5 with pond protecting most of the green). While I would not rate any of these holes as exceptional, there are no holes that are poorly designed or unfair. Solid all around golf course.
Conditioning: Gateway is usually in very good shape. One issue I have is that because the fairways are soft, very deep divots can be found. For example, on hole 18, I layed up in front of the water that protects the green, and found my ball literally below the surface of the ground in a divot. It was unplayable and I had to take a drop. There were several other divots that were that deep in this general location.
Difficulty: Gateway is a difficult golf course, evidenced by its selection to host US Open qualifiers. It’s major protection is its length, with several exceptionally long holes. Despite its significant challenge, it does not have many forced carries off the tee, so beginners could probably get around despite being overmatched on several of the very long holes.
Value: Their regular rates are on the high side, as the same money can get you a round at Annbriar, but then again Annbriar is much farther from downtown St. Louis. There are often very good deals on greens fees for gateway that can be had on
. Their twilight rates are also pretty good.
Walkability: Not many walk it, but Gateway is walkable. There are a few holes that have some distance between them, but overall its doable.
Scenery: Gateway has a nice view of the arch and St. Louis skyline, which is a plus. The immediate surroundings are something of a wasteland, but you don’t really see them. When Gateway International Raceway was open, weekend rounds were often bereft with the sounds of race cars buzzing around a track — very loud and not exactly what I am looking for in a round of golf. Now that GIR is not open full time, that type of distraction is rare. Overall ok.
Practice Facility: Okay range, two putting greens. Overall decent.
Gateway National is one of the better public golf courses in St. Louis, and combines a challenging layout with above average conditioning. It’s location close to downtown St. Louis is also a major plus, making it easy to get to for a round after work. I think it would be a much better course without the soft bentgrass fairways, as it could play hard and fast — truer to its links-​style setup. In a head to head comparison between Gateway and the other links layout in the area, Aberdeen, I give a slight edge to the latter, but its very close. Gateway scores a solid 7 on my 10 pt scale.

Living in south city makes this a great course for me. It’s easy to get to from home, or work. nice layout (links style).and the bent grass fairways are beautiful… its like being on a golf trip but your only ten minutes away from downtown. great clubhouse .the staff are a pleasure to work with. and a very nice range to hit a bucket of balls before your round .its like belonging to a country club for a day.

Two words: bent grass.
This is definitely one of the more challenging courses in the area. Very fun to play and the grass makes it unique. Always in great condition and just a short drive to the ILL side (my favorites on this side being Gateway, Stonewolf, Far Oaks, and Annbriar).

Good course for the money. Don’t pay full price though, usually you can find a deal somewhere around town. It is a great view of downtown St. Louis. The course is long, but fairly open fairways. For big hitters this course will be a little easier, but I was hitting alot of fairway drivers and long iron approach shots.
One of the better public courses in the area. I think Annbriar may have it beat as far as course layout for me because it is a little shorter, but Gateway is a much shorter drive for me and for anyone living in St. Louis city and many surrounding locations.

Just East of downtown St. Louis, Gateway National offers views that rival no one in the St. Louis area. Playing here is a dream, seeing the downtown skyline in the sunset only reminds you that any bad day on the golf course is still better than a good day in the office.
Overall this course is my favorite. Gateway is the only golf course to showcase bent grass fairways in the area, and they are beautiful. The course is long and hard so bring your A game.
The wind and elements can make Gateway even more difficult so be prepared, and for the price you can’t beat it.